


Back In The Game

by RySenkari



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Big Sister Lori, Call of Duty - Freeform, Gamer Girl Lori, Gen, Lincoln/Lori (Brother/Sister Relationship), Little Brother Lincoln
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RySenkari/pseuds/RySenkari
Summary: When Lincoln decides to enter a big video game tournament down at the mall, he realizes he needs to get good in a hurry! He can't afford to hire a coach, but finds an unexpected source of help... his older sister Lori, who used to be a gamer herself a long time ago. He quickly improves his skills, but in doing so, brings Lori back to gaming herself... which may well be his undoing.
Kudos: 1





	Back In The Game

Lincoln Loud didn't get to play video games on the living room television very often, but when he did, he was usually playing the latest shooter game, _Thrall Of Combat 5: Invader War._ He rocked back and forth on the couch with excitement as his soldier character blasted aliens left and right, collecting power-ups and building a huge combo. As he played, his best friend Clyde was playing along with him and communicating over voice chat.

“Lincoln, I think you're about to pick up another airstrike!” said Clyde excitedly. “Just one more headshot and you've got it!”

“There it is!” Lincoln exclaimed as he zapped another zombie. An airstrike icon appeared on his screen, and he hovered it over a zombie horde. “All right zombies, time to taste death from the sky!”

A massive laser beam eradicated the zombie horde, and Lincoln and Clyde were victorious. The two congratulated each other over their chat, and Lincoln leaned back on the couch to catch his breath.

“Whew, that was a great round, Clyde!” said Lincoln, setting the controller in his lap.

“Yeah, that was the fastest one yet!”

“You think I'm ready for the big tournament at the mall this weekend? I mean, it's a single player tourney, so we won't be able to team up, but I think we can still kick enough butt to face each other in the finals!”

“And get that $400 grand prize!” said Clyde excitedly. “What are you gonna get if you win?”

“That's easy, the Nextello Shift! It's the perfect game console for my ten sibling lifestyle, since whenever my sisters are hogging the TV, I can just take it up to my room and finish my game! What about you?”

“Well, my dads already got me the Shift, but I've got my eye on a sweet electric guitar at the music store.”

“Really? I didn't take you for much of a guitar player, Clyde.”

“Yeah, but Chloe loves music, and Luna promised to teach me if I got one, so I bet I could really impress her by learning to play!”

“That sounds pretty sweet! Well, I'd better go, need to get some solo practice sessions in for the tourney.”

“Same here. Talk to you later, Lincoln!”

As Lincoln exited the voice chat program on his phone, he noticed a news article had popped up on his screen.

“Hey, it's about this weekend's tournament! Wonder how many people will be entering?”

Lincoln tapped the article and began reading.

“Oh man... over a hundred have signed up already? And some of the best players in Royal Woods are entering... including popular Detroit-area streamer EndlessRick? He's like a tournament pro...!”

Worried, Lincoln ran a quick search for “ _Thrall Of Combat_ Coaches”. A few came up, then he checked their hourly rates.

“A hundred bucks an hour? If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't need to enter the tournament!”

As Lincoln fretted over his potential tournament competition, he could hear the sounds of grunting, straining, and thumping on the stairs behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw his older sister Lori struggling with a large box full of objects.

“Ugggh....nnnnngh! Lincoln, could you help me get this box out to Vanzilla?”

“Uh, sure...!” Lincoln helpfully ran over and helped his sister with the box. “What's in here?”

“Just some... old stuff... I've been meaning to... donate to the Good Samaritan store!” grunted Lori, her voice clearly stained as she and Lincoln began carrying the heavy box.

“What's.... in... here?” Lincoln gasped, barely able to walk with half the weight of the box in his arms. “Your old rock collection?”

“No, just... old stuff! Ugh.... just a.... bit... further!”

The two made it outside, but as they navigated their way to the van, Lincoln tripped over a pebble, and he, Lori, and the box fell to the ground in a heap.

“Ow....! ...sorry, Lori...”

Lori sighed, but brushed herself off and got up, reaching down to help her brother to his feet.

“It's okay, Lincoln... I should've done this a long time ago. Or maybe just made two trips...”

As Lincoln took his sister's hand and started to get up, he couldn't help but notice some of the contents of the box spilled out on the ground. There were several books, but these weren't novels or textbooks. They had pictures of video games from several years back on the covers, and Lincoln began inspecting them.

“Hey Lori... are these old strategy guides for video games?”

“What?!” Lori stammered, her face immediately turning red.

“Wow, you've got _Final Adventure XXVI_ in here.... and _Super Dario World 3D_.... oh man, there's _The First Of Us_ , that game was sweet! And here's.... a guide for the original _Thrall Of Combat_? Lori, did you play all these games?”

“N...no! What are you talking about? That's... some of Bobby's stuff, I'm helping him donate it!”

“Lori, Bobby hasn't been back to Royal Woods in more than a month.”

As Lincoln looked up at his older sister with a knowing smirk, Lori rolled her eyes and sighed. Her secret was out, though it really wasn't much of a secret... she honestly thought Lincoln already knew she used to play games.

“Fine, they're mine... don't you remember I used to play video games? I mean, I played that dumb fighting game with you after that whole babysitting incident.”

“Yeah, and you were pretty good at it... but when did you play games, Lori? I barely remember you ever playing anything!”

“That's because I quit right after I started middle school,” said Lori. “Video games weren't cool, so I stopped playing them. ...I know that's a dumb reason and I shouldn't care what people think of me, but I was eleven, so... yeah, I stopped because I thought my friends would make fun of me.”

“But lots of your friends play games. Chaz plays them, Becky plays them, Jalenda plays them, your boyfriend Bobby plays a ton of them...”

The two continued to talk as they piled Lori's donations back into the box and carried them to Vanzilla. Lori seemed quite conflicted about giving up her old gaming habit... she'd thought it was a good idea at the time, but she also knew how silly it was to give up something she liked because she thought her friends might judge her. Still, that ship had sailed a long time ago... Lori had given up her games, and now she was giving up her guides, and that was that.

“You can have those old guidebooks if you want them, Lincoln,” said Lori. “Anyway, I'd better get these donations to the store. Thanks for helping me carry them out.”

“Well, wait... I'm training for a big _Thrall Of Combat_ tournament, and I could kind of use a sparring partner...”

“...are you joking?” asked Lori. “Lincoln, I told you, I gave up gaming. I've barely touched a game in six years. I mean... sometimes I play with Bobby and Ronnie Anne when I visit them... and... sometimes I'll play at the arcade with Becky and Carol... but I'm telling you, I'm no good. I'd be way too rusty.”

“Well I've got to get good playing someone!”

“What about Clyde?”

“His parents don't let him play more than a little while each day, I can play with him a little but not as much as I need to train for the tournament. Please, Lori? Just one game?”

Lori sighed, closing the van door.

“Fine,” she said, putting her hand on her hip. “But I'm telling you, I'm rusty.”

The two went inside, and Lincoln set up the game for one on one versus mode. They started playing, and Lincoln quickly got the first kill, zapping Lori's character with a quick headshot.

“See? I told you, I'm no good at this game,” said Lori, picking up a sniper rifle after respawning, scoping out Lincoln in the corner of the map, and taking him out with a headshot.

“Lori, that was an incredible shot!”

“Well, it's the sniper rifle, anybody can pick off someone with the sniper rifle...”

“At that range?”

Lori switched out weapons, picking up a hand blaster as Lincoln respawned nearby. He saw her dart around a corner and unleashed a torrent of bullets, only for her to roll into cover, lean up, and shoot him again. Another perfect headshot.

“Are you kidding me?!” Lincoln shouted.

The game continued... and time after time, Lori managed to get the jump on Lincoln. She took him out with a crossbow. She took him out with a melee grab from behind. She even took him out with the joke weapon that the programmers put in the game to troll players.

“There's a trick to it,” said Lori, as Lincoln sat there stunned following his sister's joke weapon kill. “You just have to know where to aim.”

“WHERE?!” Lincoln shouted, down six kills to his sister. “How are you even doing this?”

“Well, it's not exactly hard,” said Lori, sneaking up behind Lincoln and killing him again. “Lincoln, you didn't even try to dodge that time.”

“I didn't think you'd get back that fast!”

“There's a shortcut on this map,” said Lori. “They always put the shortcuts in the same places, it was like this in the original too.”

By the time the game had ended, Lori had beaten Lincoln by a score of 15 kills to one. He'd never lost that badly before, even to grandmaster ranked players online. His sister wasn't just good, she was practically the best  _Thrall Of Combat_ player he'd ever seen.

“Lori, you're... amazing! I thought you said you were rusty!”

“Guess it's my muscle memory,” said Lori with a shrug of her shoulders. “That was actually pretty fun, thanks for asking me to play! I mean, it's not as fun as doing my nails, or making out with Bobby, but-”

“Lori...” said Lincoln, a pleading look in his eyes. “You _have_ to coach me.”

“Uh... excuse me? Lincoln, I don't have time to coach you for your video game tournament, I'm busy with high school senior stuff. And I still have to take my donations over to the store.”

“Just... just an hour a day, please...! I need to win this tournament, you have no idea! I reeeeeally want that Nextello Shift!”

“The Nexo...what?”

“It's this awesome game console you can play on your TV or on the go! Like in my room, or on the bus, or on the toilet-”

“Ew, nobody needs to play video games on the toilet. Besides, you spend enough time in the bathroom as it is.”

“Not as much as you do!”

Lori glared at Lincoln, who backed off nervously.

“Look, the grand prize for this tournament is $400...”

“Wow, that's a lot of money,” said Lori. “That would be enough for a session with Katie Chung...”

“Who?”

“Katie Chung's in town this week giving out golf lessons. She's like the best player in the world... she even went to the Masters and beat all the guys! It's $250 for a session with her... which, I personally think is a much better value than a video game you can play on the toilet.”

“Well, listen Lori, if I win the money and buy a Nextello Shift, I'll give up all my TV sessions for the whole month! You can have my TV time!”

“...make it two months and you've got a deal.”

Lincoln nodded, and the next day, she and Lincoln sat down to play  _Thrall of Combat_ together... only this time, Lori wasn't wearing her normal outfit. She was wearing her drill sargeant uniform, and had her whistle at the ready.

“Okay, Lincoln, if you're going to get good in time to win this tournament, you'll need to learn fast! And if you're going to learn fast, you have to do _everything_ I say, got it?”

“Uh, okay.”

“Got it?!” Lori said sternly, leaning in and starting to blow her whistle.

“...yes, sir!” Lincoln replied. He definitely wasn't a fan of Drill Sargeant Lori, but he supposed that if he was going to learn to be a proper video game soldier, he'd have to train like a proper soldier. Lori thrust the controller into Lincoln's hands.

“All right Lincoln, these games are all the same, so the tricks I learned for the original _Thrall of Combat_ will work in this one... but just to make sure, I read up on the new game, and they have changed a few things... for starters, it's a lot easier to roll into cover, so you'll have to be a lot quicker with your trigger finger.”

“How quick?”

“It's already too late!” Lori shouted, pointing at the screen. Lincoln's opponent had already taken cover and had tossed out a grenade, blowing Lincoln to smithereens. “Don't hesitate!”

“You're making me nervous!”

“Too bad, soldier!”

Lincoln let out a scream and began cowering. As his character respawned, he could see his opponent coming at him.

“Stop cowering! Take aim and fire!”

Lori took the controller from Lincoln and demonstrated the proper aiming technique. Even though the enemy was right on top of her, she was easily able to dodge out of the way and fire off a perfect headshot from point-blank range.

“How do you stay so calm like that with your anxiety...?” asked Lincoln, looking down at his sister's steady hands.

“Don't overthink it, relax and sink it...” Lori whispered to herself, her eyes focused on the screen. “Don't overthink it, relax and-”

Boom. Headshot.

“Wow,” said Lincoln, watching as the opponent went down yet again. “Sounds like the problem is that I get too excited.”

“Yeah, like all those preteen boys on there yelling obscenities and slurs? Don't be like them,” said Lori, handing Lincoln the controller.

“Well, I don't yell obscenities and slurs when I play,” replied Lincoln.

“But you do play nervous,” said Lori, handing him back the controller. “Just relax.”

“Heh... this is way better than when you were yelling at me,” said Lincoln, casually taking aim at his opponent, firing... and missing.

“You still have to aim properly!” shouted Lori. “...well, we'll work on that next, I suppose. That's something you have to really practice hard at.”

“But I play a lot...!” Lincoln protested, firing again and managing to wing his opponent in the shoulder. “That was better, right?”

“It was... here, slow down and...”

Lori began talking Lincoln through her aiming technique. It took a few more shots for Lincoln to get the hang of it, and in that time his opponent managed to get two more kills, but soon...

“All right, I got him!” shouted Lincoln. “That shot was perfect!”

“Don't get excited about that one, you're still behind. Just keep doing it the same way and soon you'll be able to do it every time. Well, maybe not that soon, but....”

“I hope I can do it soon, the tournament's this weekend!”

“Don't think about this weekend. Just think about now,” said Lori. “Lincoln, when I played these games, I didn't think too much about them. They were just... something I did, you know? I mean... I really liked playing them, and I played them a whole lot, but I didn't do any tournaments or anything like that, I just played for fun...and I had fun.”

Lori let out a sigh.

“I really wish I hadn't given them up,” she admitted. “Now that I see how much fun you're having with them, it's something I wish I could do.”

“Well... you can play my video games any time you want,” said Lincoln. “Especially since, you know, you're gonna have the TV a lot more this month.”

“True, but I don't have a lot of time for games anyway. I've got my video chats with Bobby, and I go to the mall with my friends, and there's yearbook stuff to do, and spending time with all of you guys...”

“It's okay, Lori... I just hope you're having fun helping me.”

“Actually... actually, I am,” said Lori, smiling at her little brother. “I hope you're having fun too.”

“Well... I'll have even more fun if I win... but you said I shouldn't worry about that, so...”

“That's right, just let it go while you're playing. Don't overthink it, relax and-”

“Sink it!” shouted Lincoln, getting another headshot and winning the match. “All right....!”

“Way to go!” said Lori, patting her brother on the shoulder. “Ready for the next one?”

“I think so....”

“I said, ready for the next one?” said Lori, raising up her whistle again.

“...yes, sir!”

And so it was, for the rest of the week. Lori taught Lincoln about every aspect of  _Thrall of Combat_ , trying her best to make him as good at the game as possible in the span of a few days... and thanks to her teaching, Lincoln's skills improved rapidly. His online rating skyrocketed as Lori showed him things about the game he'd never even thought of before, and he even managed to score a few more kills against her in matches, though he could never come within ten kills of his sister when they played one on one. 

Then, the day of the tournament arrived. Lori brought Lincoln to the mall and walked with him to the large area where the tournament had been set up. There were players everywhere, from all over Royal Woods and even the Detroit area... most of them quite a bit older than Lincoln. They looked intimidating, but as Lincoln started to get nervous, Lori put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Don't worry, Lincoln, you'll do great,” she said with a comforting smile.

“Lori... thanks, for everything,” said Lincoln warmly, looking up at her. “I might not win today, but thanks to you, I know I've got a chance. I know we've had our differences before, but the time we spent together this week was really fun, and I'm glad you're my big sister.”

Lori felt a tear come to her eye as Lincoln spoke those kind words, but as she got ready to say something, the two of them could hear the announcer calling out for the tournament to begin.

“Well, you'd better go get 'em,” said Lori, giving her brother an encouraging push toward the play area. “I'll try to pop in and watch your matches, but they're having a sale at the shoe store today and-”

“Oh, it's okay,” said Lincoln with a smirk. “I think I'd get kind of nervous with you watching anyway... worried you'd blow that whistle whenever I messed up!”

Lori giggled, then walked away from her brother and toward the shoe store. As she made her way out of the tournament area, she passed her friend Becky, who gave her a friendly wave as she walked by.

“Lori!” exclaimed Becky. “I'm surprised to see you here at a _Thrall Of Combat_ tournament!”

“Oh no, I'm not here to play, I just came to drop off Lincoln.”

“Well, if you still want to enter, they've actually got a few spots left! Chaz had to drop out....”

Chaz ran past Becky and Lori, holding his stomach and groaning in agony.

“I don't know what they put in that Gamer Juice, but my insides feel like they're at war...!” shouted the afflicted teenage boy, dashing to the mall bathrooms.

“Oh, I couldn't possibly-”

“You know the prize is $400, right?” said Becky.

“Well, yeah, but there's no way I could win...”

“You always beat me and Chaz when we play together! C'mon Lori, it'll be fun!”

“Well....” Lori shot a nervous look over at the tournament sign up table, as the announcer made a last call for entrants. Nearby, Lincoln and his first round opponent were already preparing for their match.

“All right, time to get things started!” said Lincoln, holding his controller tightly. He felt a bit nervous, but it went away quickly, and by the time the match had begun, his fingers had completely stopped shaking. _Let's see if I can remember what Lori taught me!_

The match began, and Lori's lessons echoed through Lincoln's head. Every movement his opponent made, every weapon he picked up, he could hear his sister's voice telling him what to do.

_Watch for a dive to the right, it's a tell that they're about to throw a grenade._

_The assault rifle looks fierce, but its rate of fire makes it inefficient for skirmishes._

_Don't get caught in the docking bay, the alien fire stage hazard is too dangerous!_

Shot after shot, kill after kill, Lincoln found himself making moves that he never would've made otherwise, moves that proved right, every single time. And by the time the match was over, he'd won decisively... 15 to 6, a very strong margin of victory against a skilled first round opponent several years older than him.

“Good game, man!” said Lincoln, shaking his opponent's hand, then walking to the central table to await the announcement of his next opponent. _Man, I wish Lori could've seen-_

“And we have our first perfect winner, a 15 to nothing blowout in record time...! Our winner, and advancing to round two... Lori Loud!”

Lincoln looked across the room to see his sister triumphantly pumping her fists as her bewildered and defeated opponent staggered away. He looked utterly shocked, not just by the margin of victory, but by the fact that his sister was competing at all.

“Lori...?” said Lincoln, walking over to where his sister was. “You entered the tournament?”

“Well, I had some time to kill, the shoe sale's going on all day, and besides, it's $400 for the winner, right?”

“Yeah, that's true... hey, this is great! With two of us competing for the money, we've got twice as much of a chance at winning the tournament and getting that Nextello Shift!”

Lori's face turned a bit red as Lincoln spoke, and she looked a bit nervous as he finished talking.

“Uh, Lincoln? If I win, I'm not getting that game thing,” said Lori.

“Huh?”

“I'm spending that money on a lesson with Katie Chung,” she continued.

“But... but you helped me!” said Lincoln, his voice angry with betrayal. “You helped me get good so I could win enough money to buy the Shift!”

“Yes, and then I decided to enter the tournament myself so I could get enough money to buy my golf lesson,” Lori replied.

“We had a deal!”

“The deal was, I coach you, I get your time with the TV next month,” said Lori. “The deal wasn't that I don't enter the tournament. Lincoln, I didn't even know I was entering until Becky talked me into it, but now that I'm here, and I'm doing good, I'm not just going to throw in the towel... and besides, you wouldn't even be here if I hadn't coached you this week. You're better at the game than you were before, right? And you've still got a chance to win, right?”

“Well yeah, but-”

“Then I don't see what the big problem is,” said Lori. “Now, don't you have another match coming up?”

As Lori walked away, Lincoln continued to protest, following her until she got lost in a crowd of players who were watching another match.

“But that's... that's not fair! Lori! ….dang it!”

Lincoln continued to fume, even as he looked at the bracket for the next round of matches. As he did, Clyde came over to him.

“Hey, how's it going, buddy? You look upset, did you lose already?”

“No... I won, but... what's the point? I've got no chance anyway, not with _Lori_ in the tournament...”

“Wait, what? Lori's here?” shouted Clyde, looking around to see if he could spot her. When he couldn't, he shrugged. “Oh well... heh, guess it's a good thing I'm going out with Chloe now, huh? No way I'd be able to concentrate if I was still crushing on Lori. But wait, Lori's here competing? She plays video games?”

“Yeah, and despite barely playing any since she got to middle school, she's like the best _Thrall of Combat_ player ever! She's been coaching me all week, but I'm not even close to her level!”

“Aww, cheer up Lincoln, don't give up! The tournament's barely started, and Lori's all the way over on the other side of the bracket! Let's just win our matches and get as far as we can, and not even worry about Lori, okay?”

Lincoln sighed, then smiled at his friend. Clyde always did have a way of cheering him up, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

“You're right, Clyde! Let's just kick butt and win and forget about Lori! We can do this! Clincoln McLoud all the way!”

The two boys did their secret handshake, then went their separate ways to compete in their second round matches. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Lori had drawn a major crowd for her own second round match. She still had yet to give up a single kill, and was fragging her opponent left and right, not giving him an inch to breathe.

“Aren't you Carol Pingrey's friend? How are you so good?” shouted Lori's opponent, one of the players on the Royal Woods football team.

“I don't know, aren't you the star running back? How are you so bad?” Lori replied with a smirk, before scoring her thirteenth kill of the match. “Oooh, looks like you fumbled that one!”

Lori had no problem finishing off her second opponent, while Lincoln and Clyde both won their matches with few problems as well. The three advanced to the round of 64, and now the competition was starting to get fierce... Lori's third round opponent even managed to get a kill on her. Meanwhile, Lincoln had won his third round match with only a bit of trouble, and Clyde was struggling, barely managing to finish his opponent off by a score of 15-14. As the round of 32 neared, the two boys looked up at the bracket together. They were the two youngest competitors still in the tournament, and the bracket was starting to look like a who's who of Southeast Michigan's best _Thrall Of Combat_ players. Becky had been knocked out by one of them in the third round, and now she was cheering Lori on as the oldest Loud schooled her fourth opponent, a streamer who had a diamond ranking on the game... not that it was helping him score more than three kills to Lori's rapidly rising 12... 13... 14...

“Geez, I know that guy and Lori's kicking the snot out of him!” said Lincoln nervously, putting his hand on the back of his head and watching his sister's performance in awe. He couldn't help but be a bit proud of his sister for playing so well... but with $400 on the line and the feeling of betrayal still echoing in his mind, he didn't dwell on it long. “I still can't believe she'd do this to me!”

“Calm down, Lincoln, our next matches are about to start!”

Lincoln sighed and took his place at the monitor to play his next opponent. During the match, he stayed mostly focused, but started to get nervous as his opponent hung tough with him... and at one point, the match stood tied at 10. Lincoln just couldn't stop thinking about Lori... and soon, he found himself trailing by a kill.

_What are you doing, Lincoln?_ he thought to himself, trying to calm down.  _If you can't beat this guy, you'll never beat Lori! Don't overthink it, relax and... ugh, she's still in my head!_

Lincoln could hear Clyde let out a cry of defeat nearby. A quick look at a nearby monitor showed that his best friend had just lost his fourth round match... and Lincoln was on the verge of losing as well.

_What do I do? If I remember Lori's lessons, I remember Lori! But if I remember Lori, I start playing badly!_

“Calm down, Lincoln,” came Lori's voice from the crowd. He looked up and saw her smiling at him. “It's just a game.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Don't think about the money,” said Lori. “I know you're mad at me, but if you lose to this guy, what will you be able to do about it, huh?”

Lincoln gritted his teeth and looked up at the screen. His opponent led 13 kills to 10, and time was running out. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and remembered what Lori had taught him... and soon, he'd been able to even the score. He looked up again and Lori was gone. He sighed again, and with renewed focus, found his opponent one more time...

_Relax and... sink it._

Headshot. Time expired.

“The winner, by a score of 14 to 13 and advancing to the round of 16... Lincoln Loud!”

As the crowd cheered, Lincoln allowed himself to smile. He walked over and comforted his friend Clyde, who gave him some encouraging words for the next round.

“Most of the tough players are on Lori's side of the bracket,” said Clyde. “Also, you're doing great today!”

“Thanks, Clyde... sorry you got beat, was looking forward to playing you in the final four!”

“It's okay, we can play each other next time we're at my place.”

“Are you okay with me beating Lori?” asked Lincoln. “I know you're dating Chloe now, but I thought maybe you still have a soft spot for her.”

“Nah, you're my best friend! Go kick Lori's butt! Also, after you kick her butt, tell her I said hi.”

“Heh... will do, Clyde.”

Surprisingly, the next two rounds of the tournament went a lot smoother than the fourth, and after a couple of not-too-difficult wins, Lincoln found himself in the semi-finals, facing the person who'd beat Clyde earlier in the day: a 24-year-old law student who wasn't a game streamer but had had plenty of time to get good over the last few years in college, even while studying for his law degree. Meanwhile, Lori's opponent in the semi-finals was perhaps the best _Thrall Of Combat_ player in the tournament... a professional game streamer with a grandmaster rating who was making more money streaming the tournament to his hundreds of thousands of followers than he'd make if he actually won.

“EndlessRick here, coming at you live from Royal Woods Mall, and my semifinal opponent is a girl, so you _know_ we're headed straight to the finals,” said the streamer, setting up his phone to record footage of the match as Lori rolled her eyes nearby. “And remember, today's stream is brought to you by _The First Of Us Part II_ , which we all know is going to totally suck but which I plan to play anyway, to hate on of course... and by Gamer Juice, which not only keeps you going during marathon _Thrall of Combat_ sessions but is also a laxative!”

“...wow, that guy's kind of a jerk,” said Lincoln, as he got ready to play his semifinal match. _I don't know who I want to win... I mean, he's probably better than Lori, but Lori taught me everything I know and knows all my moves... I hate that I'm thinking this, but I'd probably have a better chance against EndlessRick than I would against my own sister! ...so.... I... guess I hope he wins?_

Lincoln put his sister's semifinal match out of his mind as he got ready for his own opponent. He felt his nervousness return... after all, after this match was the finals! He was just two matches away from that $400 prize... his Nextello Shift... but he couldn't afford to look past the person he was facing, the person who'd beaten Clyde earlier. Lincoln knew his opponent was the toughest one he'd faced yet... and as the match started, he once again found himself relying on his sister's advice.

_Go for the portal, it's a shortcut to the perfect sniping shot._

_Try to hide in the cave during the plasma storm._

_You can fire the ice pistol immediately after rolling, aim for the legs and freeze your opponent in place!_

Lincoln's semifinal opponent was good, but thanks to everything Lori had taught him, Lincoln was better. It was touch and go for a while, but Lincoln never fell behind during the match, not even once, and over the course of the match, realized just how good he'd gotten... and all because of Lori.

_She's the only reason I'm here,_ thought Lincoln.  _She's the only reason I'm playing this well. I know she might beat me next round, but she's the one who gave me a chance to win at all..._

The crowd cheered as Lincoln finally finished off his opponent for a 15 to 12 win. Lincoln soaked in the crowd's cheers, letting the excitement of the moment wash over him.

“Hey, really good job, little man,” said Lincoln's opponent as he shook the boy's hand. “How'd you get so good at this game?”

“Well, I had a really good coach,” said Lincoln.

“Oh? They _must_ be good if they coached you.”

Lincoln looked over to the opposite side of the room, where Lori was playing her match... a match Lincoln hoped she would lose.

“And the winner, by a score of 15 to 7... Lori Loud!”

“...dang it,” said Lincoln, slumping his shoulders.

“How did you... there's no way.... you cheated!” shouted EndlessRick, following Lori around the room with his phone. Finally, Lori had had enough, and turned around, grabbing the streamer by his collar and raising her fist.

“Go away, or I'll throw that phone into the fountain,” said Lori. “Followed by you.”

As EndlessRick backed off, Lori sighed and turned to her brother, who had an unmistakably sad look on his face.

“Well, I guess it's you and me in the finals, little bro,” said Lori, smiling. Lincoln nodded, unable to wipe the frown from his face, and Lori could see that her brother needed some cheering up. “Hey... you made it really far, you know? You played really well today, I saw a few of your matches and you did great. You remembered everything I taught you... and you looked like you were having fun too.”

“I... I did have fun,” said Lincoln. “It's just...”

As Lincoln looked away, not sure whether to feel anger at his sister for entering the tournament and taking his prize, or guilt for even thinking about her that way, the two Loud siblings heard the announcer speak.

“We've made it to the finals! 254 other players have fallen, and now only two remain... and it looks like we've got a family feud here today, folks! From right here in Royal Woods, Michigan, it's Lori Loud and her little brother Lincoln! Let's give these two a hand for making it this far!”

The crowd cheered, and Lori waved, as did Lincoln, who managed to smile just a bit as the crowd chanted his and Lori's names. He looked over at Lori, who looked down at him.

“Hey... no matter what happens... no hard feelings, right?” asked Lori. “I didn't enter this tournament to ruin your chance of winning, you know that....”

“I... I know... you just wanted those golf lessons,” replied Lincoln. “And I wouldn't have even made it this far without you.”

“...well, I was wrong to hold that over you earlier today. And... maybe... maybe I was wrong to enter the tournament,” said Lori, as she and Lincoln stepped forward to the stage. “But you know... now that we're here, I'm not holding anything back.”

“...I don't want you to,” said Lincoln, smiling as he picked up his controller. “Because I'm gonna beat you fair and square!”

Lori smirked, and picked up her own controller.

_We'll see,_ thought Lori, feeling her palms start to sweat as she gripped the controller.  _...we'll see._

The game began, and Lori and Lincoln made their first moves, running across the map to engage one another. As Lincoln moved toward Lori, he could see that she wasn't playing like she usually was... that she was more tentative than normal, almost as if she was.... nervous.

_Oh? Actually worried you'll lose to me?_

Lincoln popped up to ambush his sister... and won a shot in the head for his trouble.

“What? No...!” Lincoln exclaimed.

Two more respawns... two more deaths. Lori had taken a 3 to 0 lead, and when Lincoln looked over at her, she didn't look nervous at all. She was locked in, her focus like a laser... any nerves she'd had at the start of the match, she'd quickly shook.

And now, Lincoln was the nervous one.

He found himself making mistakes, forgetting his sister's lessons, ducking when he shouldn't, missing easy shots... and Lori quickly racked up two more kills. He looked over at his sister... she was smiling, she was totally into the match, she was having fun.

_I've never seen her like this before_ , thought Lincoln, watching his sister as she played, even as it took his focus away from the match.  _I mean, maybe sometimes with Bobby or Carol... she's having so much fun. I don't know if she likes the game or just likes to win, but she's having even more fun than I am!_

Lincoln sighed, looking back at the screen. He was smiling... seeing his sister having that much fun was making him happy too.

_I've been spending so much time this week worrying about the tournament and about winning... I didn't even realize how much Lori was enjoying herself._

The match continued... Lori got two more kills, but Lincoln got one too... then he got another. He was keeping it close... 7 to 2 wasn't much of a deficit to make up. He could hear some grunts of exasperation from Lori whenever he got the drop on her. He looked over at her again. She was still having fun, but her focus had broken slightly... her palms were really sweaty.

“Hey Lori,” said Lincoln, looking over at her with a smirk. “Don't overthink it, relax and-”

“Shut _up_ , Lincoln!” Lori shouted... though it wasn't a malicious shout, more of an annoyed one. “Focus on the game!”

“That's what I'm doing,” said Lincoln, scoring another kill on Lori. “How about you?”

Lori growled, and Lincoln kept playing... as the two continued to trade kills, their banter continued as well.

“I taught you that move, you know!” snapped Lori, after Lincoln got his fifth kill of the match.

“Then how'd you fall for it?” replied Lincoln with a laugh.

“My finger slipped!”

“Making excuses? Every time I'd do that you'd blow your whistle at me!”

“I'd strangle you with it if I had it!”

“Like what I'm doing right now?” said Lincoln, as his character choked out Lori's from behind for his sixth kill of the match. “Oooh, now it's 10 to 6... better be careful, Lori!”

“I'll get you!”

The match continued... Lincoln was playing confidently, while Lori continued to play nervously. She'd get another kill, Lincoln would get two. Her lead continued to shrink... 11-8, 12-10, 13-12...

“No!” shouted Lori, as Lincoln tied up the score by running her over with the alien hovercraft. “I told you never to use the alien hovercraft, it's too slow!”

“Yeah, but they just patched it this week, didn't you check the patch notes?”

“...patch notes?” stammered Lori. “What the heck are patch notes?”

A murmur from the crowd. “I can't believe she beat you, she doesn't even know what patch notes are.”

Lori let out another growl. Lincoln took advantage. He crept up behind her, and... took a shotgun blast to the chest for his trouble.

“YES!” Lori exclaimed, as the score now read 14 to 13. “One more kill, one more kill and I win!”

Lincoln sighed. He'd put up a good fight, but he was lucky to be this close to beating Lori... and now she was closing in on him again. He kept his eyes on the screen, knowing that at any moment Lori could finish him off... he could hear her sitting next to him, breathing heavily. He looked over... she was shaking, her hands were soaked with sweat, as was her forehead... her face was bright red... but in that moment that he took his eyes off the screen, he gave Lori the perfect opening. She fired... his side of the screen turned red.

But it hadn't turned black. He was still alive. She'd winged him. She fired again. Lincoln rolled away behind cover and threw a grenade... a perfectly aimed grenade. It exploded.

14 to 14.

Lori exclaimed a loud sigh, but bit her tongue before screaming. She began chanting nervously to herself.

_Don't overthink it. Relax and sink it. Don't overthink it. Relax and sink it._

As she repeated that mantra to herself, the action continued to play out on the screen. The two taking shots at each other from behind cover. Miss after miss.

Lincoln took aim again... Lori had the perfect shot. He waited for her to fire... nothing.

He didn't give her a second chance. He fired... a perfect headshot.

“The winner of the Royal Woods _Thrall Of Combat_ Tournament... Lincoln Loud!”

As the crowd cheered, Lincoln looked over at Lori. She was still shaking, but she had a small smile on her face. She didn't look upset, she just looked... exhausted.

“Lori... you could've finished me off... what happened?” asked Lincoln, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I guess I just froze up,” said Lori quietly, looking at her brother. “Congratulations, Lincoln.”

As the announcer approached to raise Lincoln's hand, he kept his eyes on Lori, who wasn't even moving, and still had the controller gripped in her hands. He moved to hug her, and she finally moved toward him. The two embraced, and Lori finally felt herself relax as she held her brother tightly in her arms.

“Sorry I got mad today,” said Lincoln, returning his sister's tight embrace. “I... I've been wanting to win this tournament so bad, and I didn't realize how much fun you were having teaching me to play...”

“I still don't know why I entered,” replied Lori. “I mean, apart from that money for those golf lessons... I guess I just... wanted to prove to myself that I could do this... make up for lost time, maybe? I did have a lot of fun... maybe too much fun, huh? My hands started cramping up and sweating...”

“...you sure you didn't let me win at the end?”

“What? No way, Lincoln, I told you I was giving it my all out there! I just got sweaty is all... any other time I would've beaten you! …but I am glad you won today, guess you can get your game thing, huh?”

Lincoln nodded, and as he and Lori parted from the hug, both of them were smiling widely.

“Well, you're gonna need it, since I still get all your TV time next month,” Lori reminded him. “Don't try to weasel out of it either, you can watch that dumb ghost show online.”

Lincoln rolled his eyes, and finally got up from the chair to get his trophy and $400 from the tournament organizers. As Lincoln accepted his prizes, he gestured for Lori to stand with him.

“I wouldn't have won today if I didn't have the best coach ever!” said Lincoln proudly, smiling at Lori as she walked over. As Lori stood next to Lincoln, she listened to the cheers from the crowd... just as many of them for her as they were for him.

“You're awesome, Lori!” shouted Becky. Standing next to her was Leni, who'd just finished up at her job for the day and had joined in the celebration.

“Yay, Lori!” shouted Leni. “Wait, what did Lincoln win again?”

And as Lincoln and Lori stood together in the middle of the crowd, the two smiled at each other again. Despite their fierce competition, they'd both had more fun than they'd had in a long time, and they'd had fun doing something they both loved to do.

“I'm glad you're my big sister, Lori,” said Lincoln again, leaning on her.

“I'm glad you're my little brother, Lincoln,” Lori replied, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

O-O-O

The next morning, Lori was sitting on her bed, thinking about everything that had happened the previous day. She was alone with her thoughts, as Leni had already gone to work, and though she could hear Luna's music and the twins' arguing outside, it was more than quiet enough for her to think... and also for her to hear a knock at the door. She walked over and opened it up, and could see her brother standing in the doorway.

“Hey Lori, how's it going?”

“Hey Lincoln, aren't you going out to pick up your new game? Maybe we could play it together. You don't _have_ to play on the toilet, right?”

“Of course not, you can hook it up to the TV just the same as the other one,” said Lincoln. “But... I don't know if you'll have time to play any video games today.”

“Believe it or not, yes I do,” said Lori, smiling at him. “I've got the whole day free.”

“Not anymore! You've got a date with Katie Chung,” said Lincoln, walking over and handing Lori an envelope.

“What?!” Lori exclaimed, looking down at the envelope as he opened it up and showed her the certificate for her golf session. “But Lincoln, you wanted that game thing, didn't you?”

“Well, I did, but then I remembered that the only reason I won the prize money is because you taught me to play so well... so I figured I should help you learn to golf just as good as you play video games,” said Lincoln. “I had a lot of fun yesterday, and not just because you helped me get good, but because you were there with me. So I thought I'd repay the favor. ...well, what are you waiting for? Your tee time's in two hours!”

Lori stood there, her eyes wide with shock at the generous gesture... then wrapped her brother up in the biggest hug she'd ever given him.

“Lincoln... I was kind of a jerk yesterday, I don't deserve this.”

“You spent all last week helping coach me to play, it's the least I could do.”

Lori sniffled, wiping a tear from her eye as she released Lincoln from the hug.

“Lincoln, I don't even know what to say... listen, you can have your TV time back next month, I'm sure you're probably really into that game now that you've gotten so much better at it.”

“Well, I don't know if I'll even want to play on the TV next month,” said Lincoln, unzipping a case he'd zipped to his belt and revealing a Nextello Shift console. “Now that I have this!”

“Wait a minute... that's your new Skiff thing, isn't it?” said Lori, a hint of surprise in her voice. “How could you afford both?”

“Well, this isn't a full-blown Nextello Shift, it's the Shift Mini... it's a bit smaller and it doesn't hook up to the TV, but it still plays all the same games! And in a house with thirteen people, I wouldn't have had much time to play it on the TV anyway! Hey, wanna borrow it? Might have some time to kill before your lesson today....”

Lincoln handed the Shift Mini to Lori, who held it for a moment and recoiled slightly.

“It's sticky... and covered in cheese dust,” said Lori, handing it back to Lincoln.

“Yeah, it's slightly used,” he said, zipping it back up inside its case. “But hey, I got my thing _and_ your thing, so we both won, right?”

“Yeah, well you won't win next time I play you at _Thrall of Combat_ ,” said Lori with a smirk.

“Better wear gloves next time,” Lincoln replied. “Don't want that controller slipping on you.”

“Maybe I let you win!”

“Too late to say that now!” said Lincoln, laughing as Lori playfully chased him down the hallway.

“I'm still the best Loud at video games and don't you forget it!”

“Not like there's much competition,” said Lincoln, turning and smirking at his sister. “Apart from Lana, but she only plays my plumber game.”

Lori sighed and smiled, and ruffled her hand through Lincoln's hair before going back to her room to get ready for her golf lesson.

“Thanks again, Lincoln,” said Lori.

“Sure thing, sis,” Lincoln replied, smiling as he watched Lori go back into her room. He was glad to have been able to buy his new Shift and get Lori her golf lessons at the same time, but he would've done it for her anyway, even if buying a used Mini wasn't an option. He had plenty of game devices, and plenty of sisters too, but none who shared his love of games like Lori. “Actually, I'm kind of glad that Lori and Lana are the only other Louds who play... I don't think I could handle any more competition in my own house!”

O-O-O

Downstairs in the living room, little Lily Loud held a controller in her hands, and laughed as she fragged yet another opponent in _Thrall Of Combat._

“Pew pew!” Lily shouted excitedly.


End file.
